It is known to help protect a vehicle occupant from injury during a vehicle collision by inflating an air bag in the passenger compartment of the vehicle. To help protect the driver of a vehicle, an air bag module containing an inflatable air bag is typically mounted in a central or hub portion of the vehicle's steering wheel.
As is known in the art, one of the challenges in the engineering of an air bag system is to help protect an occupant of a vehicle seat who is not properly seated or positioned in the vehicle seat. This so-called "out-of-position" occupant may not be wearing a seat belt. The challenge of helping to protect an out-of-position vehicle driver is even greater because the steering wheel, from which the air bag typically deploys, is located in close proximity to the driver. Thus, a need exists for an apparatus which allows the steering wheel, and the air bag module mounted on the steering wheel, to move away from an out-of-position vehicle driver during the initial stages of air bag deployment so that the impact load on the driver from the deploying air bag is reduced.